Digital Commons Network^™

Soil Net Nitrogen Mineralisation Across Global Grasslands, A. C. Risch, S. Zimmerman, R. Ochoa-Hueso, M. Schütz, B. Frey, J. L. Firn, P. A. Fay, F. Hagedorn, E. T. Borer, E. W. Seabloom, W. S. Harpole, J. M. H. Knops, Rebecca L. Mcculley, A. A. D. Broadbent, C. J. Stevens, M. L. Silveria, P. B. Adler, S. Báez, L. A. Biederman, J. M. Blair

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Soil nitrogen mineralisation (N_min), the conversion of organic into inorganic N, is important for productivity and nutrient cycling. The balance between mineralisation and immobilisation (net N_min) varies with soil properties and climate. However, because most global-scale assessments of net N_min are laboratory-based, its regulation under field-conditions and implications for real-world soil functioning remain uncertain. Here, we explore the drivers of realised (field) and potential (laboratory) soil net N_min across 30 grasslands worldwide. We find that realised N_min is largely explained by temperature of the wettest quarter, microbial biomass, clay content and bulk density. …

Climate Change Impacts On Winter Wheat Yield In Northern China, Xiu Geng, Fang Wang, Wei Ren, Zhixin Hao

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Exploring the impacts of climate change on agriculture is one of important topics with respect to climate change. We quantitatively examined the impacts of climate change on winter wheat yield in Northern China using the Cobb–Douglas production function. Utilizing time-series data of agricultural production and meteorological observations from 1981 to 2016, the impacts of climatic factors on wheat production were assessed. It was found that the contribution of climatic factors to winter wheat yield per unit area (WYPA) was 0.762–1.921% in absolute terms. Growing season average temperature (GSAT) had a negative impact on WYPA for the period of 1981–2016. A …

Root Hair Single Cell Type Specific Profiles Of Gene Expression And Alternative Polyadenylation Under Cadmium Stress, Jingyi Cao, Congting Ye, Guijie Hao, Carole Dabney-Smith, Arthur G. Hunt, Qingshun Q. Li

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Transcriptional networks are tightly controlled in plant development and stress responses. Alternative polyadenylation (APA) has been found to regulate gene expression under abiotic stress by increasing the heterogeneity at mRNA 3′-ends. Heavy metals like cadmium pollute water and soil due to mining and industry applications. Understanding how plants cope with heavy metal stress remains an interesting question. The Arabidopsis root hair was chosen as a single cell model to investigate the functional role of APA in cadmium stress response. Primary root growth inhibition and defective root hair morphotypes were observed. Poly(A) tag (PAT) libraries from single cell types, i.e., root …

Gamete Nuclear Migration In Animals And Plants, Umma Fatema, Mohammad F. Ali, Zheng Hu, Anthony J. Clark, Tomokazu Kawashima

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The migration of male and female gamete nuclei to each other in the fertilized egg is a prerequisite for the blending of genetic materials and the initiation of the next generation. Interestingly, many differences have been found in the mechanism of gamete nuclear movement among animals and plants. Female to male gamete nuclear movement in animals and brown algae relies on microtubules. By contrast, in flowering plants, the male gamete nucleus is carried to the female gamete nucleus by the filamentous actin cytoskeleton. As techniques have developed from light, electron, fluorescence, immunofluorescence, and confocal microscopy to live-cell time-lapse imaging using …

Trans-Cinnamic Acid-Induced Leaf Expansion Involves An Auxin-Independent Component, Jasmina Kurepa, Jan A. Smalle

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The phenylpropanoid pathway, the source of a large array of compounds with diverse functions, starts with the synthesis of trans-cinnamic acid (t-CA) that is converted by cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) into p-coumaric acid. We have recently shown that in Arabidopsis, exogenous t-CA promotes leaf growth by increasing cell expansion and that this response requires auxin signaling. We have also shown that cell expansion is increased in C4H loss-of-function mutants. Here we provide further evidence that leaf growth is enhanced by either t-CA or a t-CA derivative that accumulates upstream of C4H. We also show that …

Impact Of Row Spacing, Sowing Density And Nitrogen Fertilization On Yield And Quality Traits Of Chia (Salvia Hispanica L.) Cultivated In Southwestern Germany, Samantha J. Grimes, Timothy D. Phillips, Filippo Capezzone, Simone Graeff-Hönninger

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

To obtain high chia seed yields and seed qualities, a suitable crop management system needs to be developed for the given growing conditions in southwestern Germany. Field experiments were conducted at the experimental station Ihinger Hof in two consecutive years (2016, 2017). The study aimed to evaluate yield and quality traits of chia depending on different (i) row spacing (35, 50 and 75 cm), (ii) sowing densities (1, 1.5 and 2 kg ha⁻¹) and, (iii) N-fertilization rates (0, 20 and 40 kg N ha⁻¹). It consisted of three independent, completely randomized field experiments with three replications. …

Nitrogen Fertilizer Suppresses Mineralization Of Soil Organic Matter In Maize Agroecosystems, Navreet K. Mahal, William R. Osterholz, Fernando E. Miguez, Hanna J. Poffenbarger, John E. Sawyer, Daniel C. Olk, Sotirios V. Archontoulis, Michael J. Castellano

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The possibility that N fertilizer increases soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization and, as a result, reduces SOM stocks has led to a great debate about the long-term sustainability of maize-based agroecosystems as well as the best method to estimate fertilizer N use efficiency (FNUE). Much of this debate is because synthetic N fertilizer can positively or negatively affect SOM mineralization via several direct and indirect pathways. Here, we test a series of hypotheses to determine the direction, magnitude, and mechanism of N fertilizer effect on SOM mineralization and discuss the implications for methods to estimate FNUE. We measured the effect …

Assessing Variation In Us Soybean Seed Composition (Protein And Oil), Yared Assefa, Larry C. Purcell, Montse Salmeron, Seth Naeve, Shaun N. Casteel, Péter Kovács, Sotirios Archontoulis, Mark Licht, Fred Below, Herman Kandel, Laura E. Lindsey, John Gaska, Shawn Conley, Charles Shapiro, John M. Orlowski, Bobby R. Golden, Gurpreet Kaur, Maninderpal Singh, Kurt Thelen, Randall Laurenz, Dan Davidson, Ignacio A. Ciampitti

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seed composition and yield are a function of genetics (G), environment (E), and management (M) practices, but contribution of each factor to seed composition and yield are not well understood. The goal of this synthesis-analysis was to identify the main effects of G, E, and M factors on seed composition (protein and oil concentration) and yield. The entire dataset (13,574 data points) consisted of 21 studies conducted across the United States (US) between 2002 and 2017 with varying treatments and all reporting seed yield and composition. Environment (E), defined as site-year, was the dominant …

Oxidative Stress-Induced Formation Of Covalently Linked Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase Large Subunit Dimer In Tobacco Plants, Jasmina Kurepa, Jan A. Smalle

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Objective: Many abiotic stresses cause the excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species known as oxidative stress. While analyzing the effects of oxidative stress on tobacco, we noticed the increased accumulation of a specific protein in extracts from plants treated with the oxidative-stress inducing herbicide paraquat which promotes the generation of reactive oxygen species primarily in chloroplasts. The primary objectives of this study were to identify this protein and to determine if its accumulation is indeed a result of oxidative stress.

Results: Here we show that the paraquat-induced protein is a covalently linked dimer of the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase …

Effect Of Stoniness On The Hydraulic Properties Of A Soil From An Evaporation Experiment Using The Wind And Inverse Estimation Methods, Nerea Arias, Iñigo Virto, Alberto Enrique, Paloma Bescansa, Riley Walton, Ole O. Wendroth

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Stony soils are distributed all over the world. The study of their characteristics has gained importance lately due to their increasing use as agricultural soils. The effect that rock fragments exert on the soil hydraulic properties is difficult to measure in situ, and is usually derived from the fine earth properties. However, the corrections used so far do not seem accurate for all types of stony soils. Our objective was to assess the adequacy of estimating the hydraulic properties of a stony soil from the fine earth ones by correcting the latter by the volume occupied by rock fragments. To …

A Case-Control Study Of Trace-Element Status And Lung Cancer In Appalachian Kentucky, Jason M. Unrine, Stacey A. Slone, Wayne T. Sanderson, Nancy E. Johnson, Eric B. Durbin, Shristi Shrestha, Ellen J. Hahn, Fran Feltner, Bin Huang, W. Jay Christian, Isabel Mellon, David K. Orren, Susanne M. Arnold

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Appalachian Kentucky (App KY) leads the nation in lung cancer incidence and mortality. Trace elements, such as As, have been associated with lung cancers in other regions of the country and we hypothesized that a population-based study would reveal higher trace element concentrations in App KY individuals with cancer compared to controls. Using toenail and drinking water trace element concentrations, this study investigated a possible association between lung cancer incidence and trace-element exposure in residents of this region. This population-based case-control study had 520 subjects, and 367 subjects provided toenail samples. Additionally, we explored the relationship between toenail and fingernail …

Genome-Wide Association Studies For Yield-Related Traits In Soft Red Winter Wheat Grown In Virginia, Brian P. Ward, Gina Brown-Guedira, Frederic L. Kolb, David A. Van Sanford, Priyanka Tyagi, Clay H. Sneller, Carl A. Griffey

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Grain yield is a trait of paramount importance in the breeding of all cereals. In wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), yield has steadily increased since the Green Revolution, though the current rate of increase is not forecasted to keep pace with demand due to growing world population and increasing affluence. While several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on yield and related component traits have been performed in wheat, the previous lack of a reference genome has made comparisons between studies difficult. In this study, a GWAS for yield and yield-related traits was carried out on a population of 322 soft red …